Bay Bridge

The first of the travel season's "go early, go late" advisories for the Bay Bridge is in effect this weekend as thousands of visitors head for Springfest 2012 in Ocean City . The Maryland Transportation Authority said motorists should avoid high traffic volume Thursday through Sunday by traveling to the annual spring block party during off-peak hours. If eastbound traffic conditions warrant it, the westbound span will operate with two-way traffic. The best times to travel this weekend are: Thursday before 2 p.m. and after 10 p.m.; Friday before 10 a.m. and after 10 p.m.; Saturday before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m.; Sunday before 11 a.m. and after 10 p.m. Officials note that full westbound bridge closures, with two-way traffic on the eastbound span, are scheduled during overnight hours Thursday, Friday and Saturday to accommodate maintenance work.

It's no secret that the beach is the place to be in summer. Anyone who has made the trek across the Bay Bridge on a Friday afternoon, from June to August, knows that. Nonetheless, we set out to find hidden places or undiscovered treasures on the shore, from the Jersey Cape to Virginia Beach for our 2012 Beach Guide . Secrets? There were a few. But most of what we found were off-the-beaten-path gems that are a must-do for any summer visit to the shore. In New Jersey, we uncovered diamonds in Cape May, marbles in Wildwood and sugar sand everywhere.

State transportation officials hope you'll do a lot of sightseeing this Memorial Day weekend. Just not on the Bay Bridge. Travelers headed to the Eastern Shore for the first time since last summer might be surprised. For one thing, the toll has risen to $4 from $2.50. For another, the westbound span is being painted for the first time since it opened in 1973, and scaffolding is likely to be a distraction — and potential hot spot for fender-benders. "You're sightseeing. They're sightseeing.

State transportation officials hope you'll do a lot of sightseeing this Memorial Day weekend. Just not on the Bay Bridge. Travelers headed to the Eastern Shore for the first time since last summer might be surprised. For one thing, the toll has risen to $4 from $2.50. For another, the westbound span is being painted for the first time since it opened in 1973, and scaffolding is likely to be a distraction — and potential hot spot for fender-benders. "You're sightseeing. They're sightseeing.

The last Saturday in June was the day we said goodbye to Baltimore and packed it up for the summer. As a child, it was a day I anticipated all year, then remembered for its unforgettable set of rituals. By the end of June the pace of our domestic life was slowing. The heat had set in, and, as a neighbor once observed, there was never an electric fan in our home. Baltimore was just different in the summer. The downtown department stores closed at noon on Saturdays. As you walked the streets you heard Orioles games on radios through all the open windows.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge has been closed to traffic as of 7:35 p.m., after high winds due to Hurricane Irene exceeded 55 mph, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority. All other bridge and toll facilities are open, although there are wind restrictions on the Key, Nice, Hatem and Tydings bridges due to recorded wind speeds up to 39 mph, according to an announcement on the MdTA website. As a result, those driving house trailers, box trailers, motorcycles, vehicles with roof-mount racks containing cargo or any other vehicle that may be subject to high winds should use caution on those bridges, according to MdTA.

There is nothing wrong with the Bay Bridge — it was the victim of short-sighted politicians back in the early 50's, who went against common sense that 4 lanes was the way to go ("Acrophobia on the bay," Oct. 18)! As for the bridge being unsafe, it's like the phrase, "guns don't kill people — people kill people. " The rush to get into line after going through the toll booth, failure to have any space between cars, the constant lane changes, wrongful hookups of trailers and tired/impaired drivers — the list goes on. I'm not a bridge building expert, but I don't see how the bridge — any bridge — could have stopped a tractor trailer at speed from going through the side barrier.

Maryland transportation officials are warning motorists they will shut down the eastbound span of the Bay Bridge late Sunday. They will close one-lane of the eastbound span of the Bay Bridge at 9 p.m. Sunday evening, and close the entire eastbound span before midnight Sunday, according to a transportation department official. The span will remain closed until 5 a.m. Monday morning to accommodate repairs. Two-way traffic will operate on the westbound side of the bridge when the entire eastbound portion is closed.

The Maryland Transportation Authority is planning more overnight closings of the westbound span of the Bay Bridge than previously indicated, with shutdowns for its deck-replacement project continuing for the next several weeks. The authority had said it would quickly wrap up its years-long schedule of regular weekday closings after the completion of pavement work on the $65 million project. However, it now says it will need several more weeks of late-night shutdowns for what it calls "demobilization" of the projects and other "punch list items."

As of 10 a.m. Monday, one of two eastbound lanes of the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel was closed and traffic was moving slowly due to a collision. On the Bay Bridge, one of the two eastbound lanes was closed due to debris in the road. Otherwise, no major accidents were reported on Baltimore area highways. No delays have been reported on mass transit systems.

The first of the travel season's "go early, go late" advisories for the Bay Bridge is in effect this weekend as thousands of visitors head for Springfest 2012 in Ocean City . The Maryland Transportation Authority said motorists should avoid high traffic volume Thursday through Sunday by traveling to the annual spring block party during off-peak hours. If eastbound traffic conditions warrant it, the westbound span will operate with two-way traffic. The best times to travel this weekend are: Thursday before 2 p.m. and after 10 p.m.; Friday before 10 a.m. and after 10 p.m.; Saturday before 8 a.m. and after 5 p.m.; Sunday before 11 a.m. and after 10 p.m. Officials note that full westbound bridge closures, with two-way traffic on the eastbound span, are scheduled during overnight hours Thursday, Friday and Saturday to accommodate maintenance work.

If you're going down to Ocean City on Friday to enjoy a quiet off-season stay, you may notice something overhead. And it's not the steel beams of the Bay Bridge or the beautiful blue skies. Instead, it's likely to be a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter airlifting a new tower to the jetty at the Ocean City inlet, replacing the old tower that was destroyed by last summer's Hurricane Irene. The new tower will be used for marine navigational purposes. On Friday morning, construction of the new tower will begin. A Coast Guard helicopter will pick up the tower at the Ocean City Municipal Airport and transport it to the inlet that separates Ocean City from Assateague Island.

High winds have prevented Bay Bridge authorities from opening up an additional travel lane to eastbound traffic. Typically, during the evening rush hour one lane of the westbound span is dedicated to eastbound traffic unless winds make it unsafe for opposing traffic to travel in the same span. The two-way operations were ended shortly after 4 p.m. The Maryland Transportation Authority will continue to monitor winds speeds and open an additional eastbound lane if possible Wednesday evening.

When the Maryland Transportation Authority floated a package of toll increases that seemed staggering to many motorists - a jump from $2.50 to $8 on the Bay Bridge by 2013, for example - state officials insisted that the higher rates were necessary to service the bonds for all the bridges, roads and tunnels the agency manages, and to maintain, repair and replace those aging facilities. Last week, the agency preliminarily agreed to scale back the increase on the Bay Bridge, the Hatem Bridge between Cecil and Harford counties and the Gov. Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge in Southern Maryland.

The Chesapeake Bay looks like a dirty bathtub, its waters turned brown with mud and awash in pollution and floating debris, including uprooted trees, propane tanks, even a battered dining-room chair. Braving boat-damaging hazards, scientists are swarming over the bay to see if the massive stormwater runoff from Tropical Storm Lee last week is going to knock the troubled estuary for another loop, just as it was recovering from an especially rough summer. "It just doesn't look right," Jamie Strong, a biologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said of the malted-milk hue of the water as he and state biologist Zofia Noe cruised north from the Bay Bridge on Wednesday to sample water conditions.

Responding to a public outcry, the Maryland Transportation Authority agreed Thursday to scale back a proposed toll hike on the Bay Bridge — one of several revisions to a hotly debated package of rate increases. The authority board reached a consensus on raising the bridge toll to $4 in November and $6 by 2013. Members had planned originally to raise the toll to $8 by 2013. Board members signaled approval of other toll changes around the state, and modifications intended to encourage motorists to use E-ZPass instead of cash.

On a strange, tragic day at the Bay Bridge, three people were pulled from the waters under the twin spans, one of whom was killed after being thrown into the bay when a truck ran into his car, and another who died in what might have been a suicide. Another person plucked from the bay within a six-hour period was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, having survived a 180-foot fall from the westbound span. Police would not comment on whether two of the incidents were suicides but said the victims' vehicles were found abandoned on the bridge in both cases.

A three-vehicle accident closed the eastbound span of the Bay Bridge for nearly two hours Sunday afternoon, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. Sgt. Jonathan Green, a spokesman for the transportation authority police, said a teenager was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, while six others were taken to an area hospital. None of their injuries was considered life-threatening, Green said. The chain-reaction accident occurred around 11 a.m. when the driver of a GMC Acadia slowed down and was rear-ended by a tractor trailer, which in turn was hit by a Ford pickup truck.

David Lee Ferguson, a retired welder and pile driver operator, died Sept. 2 from complications after leg surgery at a hospice in St. Petersburg, Fla. He was 65. Mr. Ferguson was born in Baltimore and raised on Kramme Avenue in Brooklyn Park. He attended Brooklyn Park High School and the Community College of Baltimore. He served during the 1960s as a paratrooper with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division. Mr. Ferguson, who was a member of Boilermakers Local 906, worked as a welder and pile driver operator until about a decade ago, when he retired on a medical disability.